My Gun Store Experiences

Have you seen a lot of Sig's in for warranty?

Do you guys carry any Winchester Ranger RA556B 64 gr BSB?
nope to both. Most popular 'warranty' guns.
-Mossberg Maverick 88. burst barrels are #1 thing i see with them
-Diamondback Pistols. firing pin issues. either brittle and break or soft contacts too much
-Radical Firearm series. especially upper kits. poor fit, misalignment issues with lots of different lowers, especially Spikes
-pretty much anything by GSG. typical 'semi auto .22' issues with jamming and misfeeds.
-fucking 1911's omg 1911's. i could make a whole post on this alone
-Savage Axis (magazine is plastic and latch tends to break super easy)
-'tuner' Glocks. Guys fuck up the trigger job on these a lot. leave em alone fellas.
 
nope to both. Most popular 'warranty' guns.
-Mossberg Maverick 88. burst barrels are #1 thing i see with them
-Diamondback Pistols. firing pin issues. either brittle and break or soft contacts too much
-Radical Firearm series. especially upper kits. poor fit, misalignment issues with lots of different lowers, especially Spikes
-pretty much anything by GSG. typical 'semi auto .22' issues with jamming and misfeeds.
-fucking 1911's omg 1911's. i could make a whole post on this alone
-Savage Axis (magazine is plastic and latch tends to break super easy)
-'tuner' Glocks. Guys fuck up the trigger job on these a lot. leave em alone fellas.

So basically it's mostly POS guns to begin with and bubba jobs.

Haha 1911's, my friend's Colt on the very first round locked back to the rear and was stuck. We tried hitting it forward with a 2x1 but after a cpuple hits he didn't want to damage it so he just brought it in.
 
So basically it's mostly POS guns to begin with and bubba jobs.

Haha 1911's, my friend's Colt on the very first round locked back to the rear and was stuck. We tried hitting it forward with a 2x1 but after a cpuple hits he didn't want to damage it so he just brought it in.
The funny thing is, its the 'shitty' 1911's that run like horses. A RIA GI series .45 will last forever with minimal upkeep but guys act like they will contract gnoherpasyphilAIDS by putting it in their hands. Meanwhile these raceguns with tolerances tighter than a nuns vagina gotta run 500+ rounds before they are even casually reliable, and still need a little gunsmithery to make them 100%. if you LIKE the gun, and HAVE to spend money on a pricey model, get a Springer TRP, or Colt government or Gold Cup. They are pretty g2g from the box. Wouldnt fool with Kimber unless you like gunsmithing project guns. Dan Wessons are pretty solid too but for 1200-1500 a gun you can do a lot better. Ive seen too many Wilson combats and Ed Brown customs eat shit and die on ranges to ever recommend one of those sight unseen.

Just from my OWN collection, if you get a 1911 from kimber:
-throw away the mag they give you
-take it apart and polish the ramp yourself
-reassemble WITHOUT lubing
-shoot a few hundred rounds of full power heavy grain ball
-field strip and detail clean
-if you get even 1 malfunction of any kind within your next 100 rounds, degrease it and repeat steps 2-5 until problem resolves itself

and if you get one in 10mm, throw away the recoil spring and replace it with a Wolff spring in the 20-22lb class. the limp 18lb spring they give you is ass no matter the manufacturer.
 
@Roaming East 's post about 1911s make me a sad panda as a fan of the gun (and owner of a GI Springer 1911 [with WWII style site] and a Para 15+1) BUT, makes me happy that he likes the RIA's as I was thinking about getting one and throwing some night sights on it to use as a bit of a beater/play gun at the gravel pit when I don't want to run my Glock 23 with 9mm barrel.
 
Worked briefly as a buyer/supply chain manager of a local shop. My personal favorite story is about a regular who was in probably 3-4 times a week. This person was about a 70 year old 6'4" male to female transperson in the early stages of hormone treatment (has visible breasts but still a very deep voice). Walks through the front door and one of my coworkers asks "How are you doing today?" This was followed with a 5 minute lecture on politics and how they are deeply concerned. The nazi party called themselves democratic socialists and the democratic party is doing the same and how their are similarities beween the two, coming to disarm the citizens, infringe upon our rights, blah, blah, blah. All from a 70yo MtF transperson when asked how they were doing. It was an interesting sight.

I can probably answer some questions as well but my time was brief in this role as they pumped in far too much money into the facility and eventually couldn't afford me when the projections of $10,000 per diem of retail turned into about $4000 per diem even factoring in range memberships.

A few notes I'll add.

1. The margin on guns is minimal. You're looking at that sweet DD AR with a $1700 price tag? I can buy that for around $1550 from my wholesalers. When you factor in overhead, a 10% margin on high end guns is nothing. We considered 8% of that margin to be overhead so we were making about 2% margin in reality. You want that little piece of shit Kel Tec 32? I'll make about an 18% margin. Our price structure was based on margin. Our cheap guns (<$300) had about an 18% margin. The next level up was a 16% and so on until you got the high end stuff which we were taking 10-12% on.

2. Range ammo is a nice money maker. Buying direct from MagTech, I was buying S&B 9mm ball ammo (FMJ 117 or 124gr) @ $7.83 net 10 and selling for $9.99 which is pretty standard. If I waited more than 10 days to pay the bill, my cost went up to $7.99 a box.

3. No, a case of ammo does not constitute a big discount. If you want to buy 3, 4, 5000 rounds, sure, I'll work with you. But 1000, not worth my time.
 
Worked briefly as a buyer/supply chain manager of a local shop. My personal favorite story is about a regular who was in probably 3-4 times a week. This person was about a 70 year old 6'4" male to female transperson in the early stages of hormone treatment (has visible breasts but still a very deep voice). Walks through the front door and one of my coworkers asks "How are you doing today?" This was followed with a 5 minute lecture on politics and how they are deeply concerned. The nazi party called themselves democratic socialists and the democratic party is doing the same and how their are similarities beween the two, coming to disarm the citizens, infringe upon our rights, blah, blah, blah. All from a 70yo MtF transperson when asked how they were doing. It was an interesting sight.

I can probably answer some questions as well but my time was brief in this role as they pumped in far too much money into the facility and eventually couldn't afford me when the projections of $10,000 per diem of retail turned into about $4000 per diem even factoring in range memberships.

A few notes I'll add.

1. The margin on guns is minimal. You're looking at that sweet DD AR with a $1700 price tag? I can buy that for around $1550 from my wholesalers. When you factor in overhead, a 10% margin on high end guns is nothing. We considered 8% of that margin to be overhead so we were making about 2% margin in reality. You want that little piece of shit Kel Tec 32? I'll make about an 18% margin. Our price structure was based on margin. Our cheap guns (<$300) had about an 18% margin. The next level up was a 16% and so on until you got the high end stuff which we were taking 10-12% on.

2. Range ammo is a nice money maker. Buying direct from MagTech, I was buying S&B 9mm ball ammo (FMJ 117 or 124gr) @ $7.83 net 10 and selling for $9.99 which is pretty standard. If I waited more than 10 days to pay the bill, my cost went up to $7.99 a box.

3. No, a case of ammo does not constitute a big discount. If you want to buy 3, 4, 5000 rounds, sure, I'll work with you. But 1000, not worth my time.
POS Kel Tec 32?

<[analyzed}>
 
Not sure I follow. Kel Tec either makes great guns or trash. There isn't much in-between.
I think that was true with the earlier 32s that needed a fluff and buff.
 
Pro-tip to save you money. Dont bring in your new AR-15 for feeding/extraction issues if you havent been running it super wet.

I had 3 separate firearms come in today. A store built AR-15 using Aero Precision parts, an AR-9 with a mix of fairly upscale stuff, and a brand new Rugger 556 that the customer claims was shitty. Upon taking each firearm apart, the most readily apparent issue was the complete lack of lube on the BCG's and inside the chamber. Wet them down real good like with some Amsoil and they ran like racehorses.

Cleaned the guns up, reapplied lube, called the customers to come get their guns and charged them 60 bucks for the trouble. New guns need lube guys. especially ARs with phosphate BCG's. those things drink oil up when they are new.
 
Most gun store experiences are the same.

If you aren't an expert and ask a novice question, they treat you like you're an idiot. This has happened to me in the two experiences I've had at gun stores and if you check yelp, every gun store is littered with the same types of reviews.
 
Most gun store experiences are the same.

If you aren't an expert and ask a novice question, they treat you like you're an idiot. This has happened to me in the two experiences I've had at gun stores and if you check yelp, every gun store is littered with the same types of reviews.
Can’t speak for other stores but mine specializes in custom AR builds so we are used to fielding questions. Not everyone is used to knowing the various gas block differences and buffer weight shenanigans. We do expect a person to be familiar with basic firearm law though
 
Pro-tip to save you money. Dont bring in your new AR-15 for feeding/extraction issues if you havent been running it super wet.

I had 3 separate firearms come in today. A store built AR-15 using Aero Precision parts, an AR-9 with a mix of fairly upscale stuff, and a brand new Rugger 556 that the customer claims was shitty. Upon taking each firearm apart, the most readily apparent issue was the complete lack of lube on the BCG's and inside the chamber. Wet them down real good like with some Amsoil and they ran like racehorses.

Cleaned the guns up, reapplied lube, called the customers to come get their guns and charged them 60 bucks for the trouble. New guns need lube guys. especially ARs with phosphate BCG's. those things drink oil up when they are new.

Professional thoughts on using wheel bearing grease? I've gotten away from using any kind of oil for the last few years. I got some decent range time over the holidays, few thousand rounds or so in a couple days without a malfunction in 30 degree temp or so. Just wondering if I was lucky with the grease and temp that low, or what your thoughts were.

Loving these posts of yours by the way.

PS If you have shit to say about grease, be brutal. It's welcomed.
 
Professional thoughts on using wheel bearing grease? I've gotten away from using any kind of oil for the last few years. I got some decent range time over the holidays, few thousand rounds or so in a couple days without a malfunction in 30 degree temp or so. Just wondering if I was lucky with the grease and temp that low, or what your thoughts were.

Loving these posts of yours by the way.

PS If you have shit to say about grease, be brutal. It's welcomed.
Got nothing bad to say about grease. Had guys in my unit that swore by Mobil 1 wheel grease. So long as your shit is lubed, and stays lubed, more power to you. The military just sprays CLP over everything and calls it a day. ive used motor oil to keep an AR running for years and i currently stick with amsoil as my go-to lubricant for any and everything. Frog lube is shit though. i will say that with complete confidence.


edit: get a BCG that is coated and you barely have to worry about it. plus they look sexy.
 
Got nothing bad to say about grease. Had guys in my unit that swore by Mobil 1 wheel grease. So long as your shit is lubed, and stays lubed, more power to you. The military just sprays CLP over everything and calls it a day. ive used motor oil to keep an AR running for years and i currently stick with amsoil as my go-to lubricant for any and everything. Frog lube is shit though. i will say that with complete confidence.


edit: get a BCG that is coated and you barely have to worry about it. plus they look sexy.

I'm pretty sure motor oil is hazardous to your health to use in guns. If I remember right it's zinc content and some others release some toxic fumes at around 200-250 degrees.
 
I'm pretty sure motor oil is hazardous to your health to use in guns. If I remember right it's zinc content and some others release some toxic fumes at around 200-250 degrees.
No more dangerous than propellant smoke inhalation or lead exposure from use of indoor ranges.
 
Holy Christ above today was a fun one.
-so a customer had ordered a firearm transferred to the store. No biggie, normal stuff. He gets the 'come get yo shit' call and shows up. I hand him the paperwork and he shows me his Drivers License. I ask if the address on the license is still valid and his current residence. Dude replies with a 'not really'...
*record screech*
"ok, 'not really'? what does 'not really' mean?"

Well im in between selling a house and staying elsewhere at the moment

"so this isnt your current address?"

it is, im just not staying there right now...

-so at this point im like "well where do you sleep at night, and when you wake up, is it at the address listed on this ID"

no it is not.

"Well until you can prove your address im not releasing the gun."

That sets home dude off. he tells me, quite angrily, that he paid for the shotgun and its his, and i said yes it is his, but he cant take possession of it until he conforms to State and Federal law. He stomps out in a huff.

gun stores man...i tell ya.
 
Holy Christ above today was a fun one.
-so a customer had ordered a firearm transferred to the store. No biggie, normal stuff. He gets the 'come get yo shit' call and shows up. I hand him the paperwork and he shows me his Drivers License. I ask if the address on the license is still valid and his current residence. Dude replies with a 'not really'...
*record screech*
"ok, 'not really'? what does 'not really' mean?"

Well im in between selling a house and staying elsewhere at the moment

"so this isnt your current address?"

it is, im just not staying there right now...

-so at this point im like "well where do you sleep at night, and when you wake up, is it at the address listed on this ID"

no it is not.

"Well until you can prove your address im not releasing the gun."

That sets home dude off. he tells me, quite angrily, that he paid for the shotgun and its his, and i said yes it is his, but he cant take possession of it until he conforms to State and Federal law. He stomps out in a huff.

gun stores man...i tell ya.

Got any new good/interesting stories. I'm sure the last 12 months has been full of craziness.
 
Got any new good/interesting stories. I'm sure the last 12 months has been full of craziness.
lot of the issues we are dealing with in this post COVID world are a result of shortages, price over runs, and the sheer amount of new gun owners

-Guys continue to act as if there is not a severe shortage of EVERYTHING right now. We used to take special orders for our customers and direct order hard to find weapons because we could generally guarantee arrival of whatever it was within a week or two. Now? with everything allocated, backordered, or preferred partner reserved (super allocated)? nah. We dont take your money cause i cant guarantee when an item will become available and tracking and dealing with pissed off customers who have had to wait 3+ months for an order is garbage. So now? i toss you on a list and if it becomes available ill give you a call as to whether you still want it.

-Parts are gone. Seriously, for a shop that custom builds stuff, our inventory depth has declined. We are one of the biggest Aero P dealers in the east coast and we can barely get stripped lowers in. from 500 a month to 25 a month. So because of the lack of parts, we've been forced to be more selective how we sell what we have. You cant just buy an Aero lower from us, it comes as part of a builders kit with included upper and handguard option so that we arent sitting on unmoveable stock because certain guys want to come in, buy 15 lowers, then bugger off to sell them on GB. Sucks for guys that 'just need a lower' but allows us to maintain matching stock for dudes doing full builds. Barrels are another casualty. the days of 13.75 barrels and goofy calibers and profiles is gone. Factories are barely keeping up with the standard "10.5 or 16" government profle in 5.56 or .223 wylde" set up and nonething else. So guys halfway through a Grendel build or 7.62x39 (those have become SUPER popular) are left without BCG or barrel options to finish them.

-Ammo. So my system is basically automated, we scan what comes, it is assigned a store UPC and automatically given a price based on entered data such as pieces per package and cost from dealer. ammo is automatically set to give us 30% return. fairly average. So when you see a box of 9mm sitting on our shelf for almost a buck a round, that aint because we are gouging you. its because we are paying through the ass for it too. Sometimes the ammo we buy cost so much we cant even sell it. We have to stash it in the back until prices readjust so we can either sell it at a loss thats adjusted later for tax purposes, or is basically consumed for store use through range days and test firing. I still have boxes of 5.56 green tip that at 30% margin would cost a customer almost 2 bucks around. it doesnt go out. its basically a 'in case all the ammo disappears and this is the last of it' apocalypse stash for employees.


Thats the bad stuff, the good stuff? LOTS of new lady gun buyers and people in general becoming more gun savvy. Folks are now over the 'get me something cheap and fast' and are starting to lean on quality. I still get hit up for Taurus G2 ghetto blasters often enough but my most popular products are high quality CCW guns for ladies. The P365 line i cant keep in stock and i get a dozen of those things a week. XL models, SAS, models with preattached optics. The ladies like them and so do guys. the entire Sig line up really. P320's are in high demand and the Tread series AR's are very popular.
NFA sales are very high right now too. ive sold more suppressors in 2020 then 2019 and 2018 combined and 2021 is looking to beat THAT record. But the most desired item by far are AK style rifles. I think its because the price of ammo for Combloc stuff is still very reasonable, but anything AK like gets bought before i can really put it out. Hell, i got a post ban, 'NIB' unfired MAK-90 sporter ill be tossing on gun broker that i could just as easily sell in store for 1700 and just be done with it.
 
lot of the issues we are dealing with in this post COVID world are a result of shortages, price over runs, and the sheer amount of new gun owners

-Guys continue to act as if there is not a severe shortage of EVERYTHING right now. We used to take special orders for our customers and direct order hard to find weapons because we could generally guarantee arrival of whatever it was within a week or two. Now? with everything allocated, backordered, or preferred partner reserved (super allocated)? nah. We dont take your money cause i cant guarantee when an item will become available and tracking and dealing with pissed off customers who have had to wait 3+ months for an order is garbage. So now? i toss you on a list and if it becomes available ill give you a call as to whether you still want it.

-Parts are gone. Seriously, for a shop that custom builds stuff, our inventory depth has declined. We are one of the biggest Aero P dealers in the east coast and we can barely get stripped lowers in. from 500 a month to 25 a month. So because of the lack of parts, we've been forced to be more selective how we sell what we have. You cant just buy an Aero lower from us, it comes as part of a builders kit with included upper and handguard option so that we arent sitting on unmoveable stock because certain guys want to come in, buy 15 lowers, then bugger off to sell them on GB. Sucks for guys that 'just need a lower' but allows us to maintain matching stock for dudes doing full builds. Barrels are another casualty. the days of 13.75 barrels and goofy calibers and profiles is gone. Factories are barely keeping up with the standard "10.5 or 16" government profle in 5.56 or .223 wylde" set up and nonething else. So guys halfway through a Grendel build or 7.62x39 (those have become SUPER popular) are left without BCG or barrel options to finish them.

-Ammo. So my system is basically automated, we scan what comes, it is assigned a store UPC and automatically given a price based on entered data such as pieces per package and cost from dealer. ammo is automatically set to give us 30% return. fairly average. So when you see a box of 9mm sitting on our shelf for almost a buck a round, that aint because we are gouging you. its because we are paying through the ass for it too. Sometimes the ammo we buy cost so much we cant even sell it. We have to stash it in the back until prices readjust so we can either sell it at a loss thats adjusted later for tax purposes, or is basically consumed for store use through range days and test firing. I still have boxes of 5.56 green tip that at 30% margin would cost a customer almost 2 bucks around. it doesnt go out. its basically a 'in case all the ammo disappears and this is the last of it' apocalypse stash for employees.


Thats the bad stuff, the good stuff? LOTS of new lady gun buyers and people in general becoming more gun savvy. Folks are now over the 'get me something cheap and fast' and are starting to lean on quality. I still get hit up for Taurus G2 ghetto blasters often enough but my most popular products are high quality CCW guns for ladies. The P365 line i cant keep in stock and i get a dozen of those things a week. XL models, SAS, models with preattached optics. The ladies like them and so do guys. the entire Sig line up really. P320's are in high demand and the Tread series AR's are very popular.
NFA sales are very high right now too. ive sold more suppressors in 2020 then 2019 and 2018 combined and 2021 is looking to beat THAT record. But the most desired item by far are AK style rifles. I think its because the price of ammo for Combloc stuff is still very reasonable, but anything AK like gets bought before i can really put it out. Hell, i got a post ban, 'NIB' unfired MAK-90 sporter ill be tossing on gun broker that i could just as easily sell in store for 1700 and just be done with it.
Can confirm. My favorite LGS told me their NFA stuff seems to have gone up almost 100%.
Hell, I may take the NFA plunge for a DeadAir in the next month or two.

And heard on Aero receivers. Favorite LGS I bought their last one back in December.... they still don’t have any.

Aero can’t get their M5 stuff out at all either.
 
Can confirm. My favorite LGS told me their NFA stuff seems to have gone up almost 100%.
Hell, I may take the NFA plunge for a DeadAir in the next month or two.

And heard on Aero receivers. Favorite LGS I bought their last one back in December.... they still don’t have any.

Aero can’t get their M5 stuff out at all either.
oddly enough i got a ridiculous amount of M5 lowers and uppers. Its the other parts for the AR-10's i cant get. No handguards, barrel options are garbage, having to build my own lower parts kits from cannibalized AR-15 parts while sneaking AR-10 pivot, takedown pins, and bolt catches like some kinda 1920's bootlegger
 
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